Distances
by PiperCindy
Summary: After moving to New York, Cindy finally returns to Retroville after all these years. Jimmy hopes to stir up their old romance.


It seemed so long ago, it seemed so surreal, as if it were only a dream. It seemed so far back, the tears, the anger. It was as if she had crossed a vast ocean, thinking she can never return but crossed it back to where she came from.

Sunlight flooded though the large windows of Retroville Airport. And with it the stream of memories that seemed to have taken place ages ago. It flashed before her: Her new sister, Calista, born when she was eleven, Libby moving to the next town after seventh grade, her misery in eighth grade, and after eighth grade, moving next-door to Libby's, the tears that were shed after saying goodbye to Retroville, especially Jimmy, her happiness that she lived near Libby again, her anger and disappointment after her parents decided to move to New York City in the middle of high school...

Memories after memories continued to wash over her while sitting on an airport bench with her suitcases while waiting for her old friends. She was apprehensive and excited, since she hasn't seen Libby for six long years, and hasn't seen Jimmy, Carl and Sheen for eight years.

She was now a young woman of twenty-three. No more was she the yelling, big-mouthed girl she was long ago. She had matured since then, but of course, time does not change much. She can still be the quite immature girl she was when occasion called for it, but she can keep her tongue in line.

A yell broke into her thoughts.

"CINDY!" An all too familiar voice called. Happiness spread thoughout her as she saw her old friends coming toward her, Libby half-running, almost mad with joy. Right beside her was a smiling Sheen, trying to calm her a bit. Next came Carl, who walked a little timidly toward her. At last, she saw the face she had most been lokking forward to seeing to. Jimmy was behind the group, smiling rather shyly.

When she caught sight of Jimmy, she was suddenly aware of her looks. She straightened her camel-colored jacket and patted her hair. She found a loose strand and tucked it behind hher ear just as she saw that Libby was charging straight at her.

"Oh my goodness, girl, it's so good to have you back!" Cindy found herself engulfed by the tightest hug she ever had. when Libby let go, they studied each other. It felt good to see ech other again!

Just then the rest caught up with them, grinning rather broadly.

Sheen was so happy that Cindy found herself in another back-breaking hug. Cindy and Jimmy held their breath as they shook each other's hands, not minding the tingle traveling from the contact and into their arms. Cindy also shook hands with a timid Carl, still thinking about the hug.

After Libby moved away, Cindy was miserable is middle school. Because of her high intellect, she had gone to one of the best middle schools in the state, and of course, being one of the best, there were smarter, tougher people than Cindy, and, compared to the other people, she was like the gentlest, most caring person in the school, which of course, she wasn't. The first two years were bearable because Libby was at her side. How Sheen and Carl got in was beyond her. But after Libby moved away, she felt her whole world collapse. So the only option and solution was for her to make friends with her "worst" enemy: Jimmy. But it all worked out. They stayed friends, even after she moved away.

High school made up for three years of misery, she was once again the smartest and toughest, and Libby was with her again.

She was jolted out of memory lane when Libby cried out, "Girl, I can't tell you how good it is to see you! And congrats!! It's great!!" Jimmy wondered why Libby congratulated Cindy. Probably because of her newest movie, "_The Spirit of Aquitaine_".

Ever since Cindy moved to New York City, she had starred in countless movies. She was a big-time actress, finally living her life-long dream.

But her best performance yet was the starring role of young _Elizabeth I_, in "_The Perils of Young Bess_", which was nominated in the Best Oscars Picture. And Cindy did win an Oscar for Best Actress. Jimmy remembered opening his mailbox and finding Cindy's invitaion for the movie premiere. She had also sent Carl, Sheen and Libby front row tickets.

"You, too! Congrats!" Cindy replied, referring to Sheen and Libby's engagement. "Where's the ring? I want to see it!" Cindy was giddy with excitement for her friend.

A glint of diamond caught Cindy's eye. It was a Princess-cut diamond, on a pure silver band. It shone brightly in the sunlight.

"It's so exciting! Come on, guys, let's have lunch! we can go to this new Japanese restaurant, in honor of one of Cindy's best performances, '_The Mountains of Japan_'!"

"With sushi? I love sushi! It's really good!" Carl said. _Carl and Sheen should have gained some wisdom now,_ Cindy thought.

They helped Cindy with her million suitcases to Sheen's minivan.

"You didn't take any of your hovercrafts or rockets?" Cindy joked, falling out of the crowd with Jimmy.

"Very funny, Vortex, no," He grinned. After moments of grunts and struggling with her bags, Jimmy broke the silence. "It's great to have you back, though, Vortex,"

Cindy was quite surprised. "It's is good to be back,"

After some thinking, Jimmy ventured on one question. "Hey, uh, Cindy, do you want to go to dinner?"

_Is he asking what I think he's asking?_Cindy thought. She chose not to get her hopes up. She decided to play dumb in order to find out his meaning.

"Well, we're going to be having dinner tomorrow night with Carl, Sheen and Libby already." She replied.

"No, I mean tonight," he explained.

Cindy had to look away to hide a smile. "I don't know, Sheen and Libby will be out tonight to celebrate their 5th anniversary as a couple, and I think Carl is going out too."

"Not with them! Us! Us only!" He waved his arms and dropped her suitcases.

While Jimmy stooped over to pick up the fallen bags, she started laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing. About tonight, I don't know..." She trailed off.

She saw Jimmy's crestfallen face and smiled. "I don't where we'll have dinner, I mean, I want to go to so many places at once," she finished and saw Jimmy's happy face.

"Okay, we can go wherever you want to," He was so happy, he didn't care where they went.

"Alright, then, I'll meet you by the Candy Bar, and we'll move on from there."

When they got to the parking lot, Jimmy raced to the baggage compartment to put Cindy's suitcases in.

Libby stopped to wait for Cindy, who was behind of the group, wearing a big smile on her face.

"Okay, what happened?" Libby demanded.

"Old Nerdtron asked me to dinner," Cindy said, dazed.

"Are you sure about this girl? I knew you had a thing for him when we were younger, but now..." She trailed off.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. It's just _dinner."_

Chapter 2:

It felt good to hear her laughter again, Jimmy thought.

"And remember when we both tried to run for President, Bolbi won and we had to do that slap-dance every week in fifth grade?" Cindy asked, bursting into a fit of giggles. "Yeah, and what happened to him?" She asked after she calmed down.

"I don't know, last I heard, he was a cultural dance intructor," Jimmy answered, and they again laughed.

"Dance instructor!" Cindy repeated, out of breath.

"Oh, and Carl is going on month-long trip to South America to study llamas next year," Jimmy informed her.

Cindy raised an eyebrow. "That's great," She said.

They polished off their dinner and after Jimmy paid the check, they hurried out of the ridiculously too-fancy restaurant.

"So, where do you want to go now?" Jimmy asked.

"I want to walk in the park," She answered.

Cindy was surprised when they got there. A lot had changed. There were fountains with Greek mythological creatures sputing water out of their mouths, and stone benches instead of plain wooden ones. There were beautiful pathways and more grass.

They strolled for a while in silence. Finally, Cindy sat down on a bench. "So much has changed, and it's beautiful," she sighed.

Jimmy sat next to her. "Yeah, you are," He said with a hint of dazedness.

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Neutron, I've heard that line so many times in my life already," Then she added, "But I'm glad you stick to the classics. It's really sweet."

Jimmy smiled. "You can't beat the classics!"

Then they burst out laughing. Finally breathless, Jimmy leaned in, and Cindy, leaned in too.

But then a frown formed on her face. "I can't do this," She cried.

"Why?" Jimmy asked. "Don't you remember all those times we tried to, but couldn't. This time we could do it without being interrupted.

"I can't do this, Jimmy," She whispered.

"Why not?" Jimmy was starting to worry.

"I can't. Jimmy, oh, Jimmy..." She was close to crying.

"Why not?" he implored.

"Jimmy-oh, no," She didn't know what to do.

"What?"

"Jimmy-I'm engaged."


End file.
